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Alcoa Inc. engages in engineering and manufacturing metals. The company’s multi-material products, which include aluminum, titanium, and nickel, are used worldwide in aircraft, automobiles, commercial transportation, packaging, building and construction, oil and gas, defense, consumer electronics, and industrial applications.
The company also engages in the production and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina combined, through its active participation in all major aspects of the industry, such as technology, mining, refining, smelting, fabricating, and recycling. The company operates in 30 countries. In addition, the company has investments and operating activities in, among others, Australia, Brazil, China, Guinea, Iceland, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.
Segments
The company’s operations consist of four worldwide segments: Alumina, Primary Metals, Global Rolled Products, and Engineered Products and Solutions.
Alumina
This segment primarily consists of a series of affiliated operating entities referred to as Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC). The company owns 60% and Alumina Limited owns 40% of these individual entities.
This segment represents a portion of the company’s upstream operations and consists of the company’s worldwide refinery system, including the mining of bauxite, which is then refined into alumina. Alumina is mainly sold directly to internal and external smelter customers worldwide or is sold to customers who process it into industrial chemical products. A portion of this segment’s third-party sales are completed through the use of agents, alumina traders, and distributors.
As of December 31, 2014, the company had approximately 1,216,000 mtpy of idle capacity against total consolidated capacity of 17,271,000 mtpy. The company and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has a joint venture to develop an integrated aluminum complex in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Primary Metals
This segment represents a portion of the company’s upstream operations and consists of the company’s worldwide smelter system. This segment receives alumina, mostly from the Alumina segment, and produces primary aluminum used by the company’s fabricating businesses, as well as sold to external customers and traders.
This segment also sells aluminum powder, scrap, and excess power, as well as includes the results of aluminum derivative contracts and buy/resell activity. Buy/resell activity occurs when this segment purchases metal and resells such metal to external customers or the midstream and downstream segments to improve smelting system efficiency and to meet customer requirements.
Global Rolled Products
This segment represents the company’s midstream operations, whose principal business is the production and sale of aluminum plate and sheet. A portion of this segment’s operations relate to foil produced at one plant in Brazil. This segment includes rigid container sheet (RCS), which is sold directly to customers in the packaging and consumer market, and is used to produce aluminum beverage cans. Seasonal increases in RCS sales are experienced in the second and third quarters of the year (year ending December 2014).
This segment also includes sheet and plate used in the aerospace, automotive, commercial transportation, building and construction, and industrial products (mainly used in the production of machinery and equipment, and consumer durables) end markets, which is sold directly to customers and through distributors.
Engineered Products and Solutions
This segment represents the company’s downstream operations and includes titanium, aluminum, and super alloy investment castings; fasteners; aluminum wheels; integrated aluminum structural systems; architectural extrusions; and forgings and hard alloy extrusions. These products, which are used in the aerospace, automotive, building and construction, commercial transportation, power generation, and industrial products end markets, are sold directly to customers and through distributors.
Patents, Trade Secrets, and Trademarks
In 2014, the company’s worldwide patent portfolio consisted of approximately 831 pending patent applications and 1,981 granted patents. The company also has various domestic and international registered trademarks, such as the name ‘Alcoa’ and the Alcoa symbol for aluminum products, Howmet metal castings, Huck fasteners, Kawneer building panels, and Dura-Bright wheels with easy-clean surface treatments.
Research and Development
The company’s expenditures for research and development activities were $218 million in 2014.
Significant Events
In March 2015, Rio Tinto and Alcoa have agreed to scrap a bauxite mining joint venture plan in the north Kimberley region of Australia to free-up land for Kimberley National Park.
History
Alcoa Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation, was founded in 1888.

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